Right to plug in: EV charger in a French co-ownership

Who can invoke the right to plug in?

Article L113-16 covers buildings with secure-access parking spaces for private use. It benefits:

• tenants and good-faith occupants;
• co-owners, joint owners and members of building companies, where they occupy the home themselves.

The installation must be dedicated to charging an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle and allow individual metering of consumption. It is carried out at the expense of the person requesting it (art. L113-16).

To prepare the project, the applicant needs a quote. The owner or the syndic must therefore allow the chosen installer access to the building’s plant rooms to carry out the survey (art. L113-16).

What justifies a refusal

Refusal is only possible on serious and legitimate grounds. The law gives two examples (art. L113-16):

• charging installations already exist;
• the owner or the syndicat has decided to carry out these installations itself, to provide the necessary equipment within a reasonable time.

Refusal is not decided by a simple letter: an owner or syndic objecting to the project must refer the matter to the court within 3 months (art. R113-7 and R113-8).

The procedure step by step

1. Notification. The applicant gives notice of their intention to carry out the works, by recorded-delivery letter with proof of receipt requested (art. R113-10). They enclose a detailed description of the works, together with a technical plan (art. R113-7). The recipient depends on the situation (art. R113-7 and R113-8):

2. Informing the general meeting. In a co-ownership, the syndic places the project, for information, on the agenda of the next general meeting (art. R113-8). The text provides for informing the co-owners, not a vote to authorise it.

3. The 3-month objection period. From notification, the owner (outside a co-ownership) or the syndic (in a co-ownership) has 3 months to refer the matter to the president of the tribunal judiciaire, citing serious and legitimate grounds. This deadline is strict, on pain of forclusion (the right to act is lost once it expires); the competent judge is the president of the tribunal judiciaire for the place where the building is located, ruling under the procédure accélérée au fond (expedited procedure on the merits) (art. R113-7 and R113-8).

4. Starting the works. If no referral is made to the judge within this period, the applicant may carry out the works as described (art. R113-7 and R113-8). In a co-ownership, if the syndicat relied on its decision to equip the car park itself, article R113-8 also allows the applicant to revive their project where the syndicat does not carry out this equipment within the time limits it sets.

The agreement with the installer

In a block of flats, an agreement is concluded before the works between the owner or the syndicat, represented by the syndic, and the chosen installer. It sets the conditions for access to and work in the common parts and equipment for installing, managing and maintaining the charging point (art. L113-17).

The applicant notifies the installer’s name, address and telephone details. The owner or the syndic concludes the agreement within 2 months; failing that, the applicant may refer the matter to the president of the tribunal judiciaire (art. R113-9).

Collective installation: what majority at the general meeting?

Alongside the individual right, the co-ownership may decide to equip the whole car park. Two votes should be distinguished (loi (Act) of 10 July 1965, art. 24 and 25; service-public.gouv.fr, F2137):

The article 24 majority is calculated on the votes cast by co-owners present, represented or voting by post. The article 25 majority is calculated on the votes of all co-owners (F2137). See our guides on the assemblée générale de copropriété (owners’ general meeting) and on travaux en copropriété (works in a co-ownership).

Cost and tax credit

An individual installation is paid for by the person who requested it (art. L113-16). The tax credit for buying and installing a smart charging system, equal to 75% of expenditure up to €500 per system, only covers expenditure paid in 2025, to be declared in 2026. It is abolished for expenditure paid from 1 January 2026 (F35578).

Which professional to consult

Before buying a flat with parking, the agent immobilier (estate agent) can obtain the minutes of general meetings for you to find out whether a collective installation has already been voted: this is one of the legitimate grounds for refusing an individual charging point (art. L113-16).